Bus conductor stabs passenger to death over transport fare

Bus conductor allegedly stabs passenger to death over transport fareA 30-year-old man, Omoyeni Ojo, has allegedly been stabbed to death by an unidentified bus conductor in the Kilo area of Surulere, Lagos, during a heated exchange on transport fare.

The incident occurred on Saturday, November 28, 2015.

The late Omoyeni, it was learnt, boarded a commercial bus at Ojuelegba area of Surulere and handed the conductor a N500 note in payment of the fare. The conductor was said to have told the deceased that he had no lower denomination of the currency to pay Omoyeni his balance.

The altercation allegedly escalated and the duo engaged in a fight but was separated by other passengers on the bus. The conductor stabbed Rowland with a broken bottle, it emerged.

“He (Omoyeni) boarded the commercial bus at Ojuelegba and gave the conductor N500,” said an eyewitness who asked not to be mentioned. “The transport fare is just

N50 and he demanded a balance of N450 but the conductor told him off. They launched an argument that resulted in a fight but they were separated by other passengers.

“On getting to Kilo Bus Stop, where he disembarked, a fight again broke out between the late Omoyeni and the conductor, when the conductor could not provide his balance of N450. It was during the fight that the conductor stabbed Omoyeni dead with a broken bottle.”

Another eyewitness, who simply identified himself as Gloria, said that Omoyeni fell in a pool of blood and died a few minutes later after drivers at a nearby Taxi Park allegedly declined to take him to hospital. “Omoyeni, aka Rowland, struggled in a pool of his blood for about one hour but no one was ready to take him to hospital. Even the cab drivers around did not assist in taking him to hospital before he died.

“Now, we are living in fear as youths in the area have vowed to take up commercial bus and taxi drivers in the community. As we speak, you can hardly get commercial vehicles to take you to Ojuelegba because of the unfortunate incident.”

There was palpable fear among residents when our correspondent visited the community on Monday. The incident led to a breakdown of peace as outraged youths set the Taxi Park ablaze and chased away the drivers, it was gathered.

A female resident who did not want her name in print said that the late Omoyeni was scheduled to travel to the United States of America on December 10, 2015. “Omoyeni was a very easy going person and ebullient. He was recently granted a visa to travel to US and had planned to leave the shores of Nigeria on December 10. He would have been saved if he got prompt medical attention, but taxi drivers at Kilo Bus Stop refused to take him to a hospital despite the pleading of residents,” she said.

The incident was allegedly reported to Aguda Police Station, Surulere. At press time, the spokesman of Lagos Police Command, Mr Joe Offor, did not respond to enquiries forwarded to his mobile phone by our correspondent. He also failed to respond to calls. -The Nation

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